Millions in pipeline for wastewater planning

State environmental officials have cleared the way for a work plan to go forward to update a 1978 plan to combat water pollution on Cape Cod.

James Kinsella

State turns on the tap; $3.3M coming

State environmental officials have cleared the way for a work plan to go forward to update a 1978 plan to combat water pollution on Cape Cod.

On May 7, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection agreed to let the Cape Cod Commission start spending money under a $3.3 million award previously approved by the state toward the work plan, according to Larry Ballantine, chairman of the governing board committee of the Cape Cod Water Protection Collaborative.

Paul Niedzwiecki, executive director of the Cape Cod Commission, detailed aspects of the work plan May 8 in a meeting with the collaborative’s governing board.

The commission has posted the work plan on its website, www.capecodcommission.org.

The work plan is designed to update 1978’s Section 208 Water Quality Management Plan for the Cape. The plan was spurred by Section 208 of the federal Clean Water Act, which directed the preparation of regional wastewater management plans.

According to the new work plan, not much was done on the Cape to carry out the 1978 plan. In the intervening decades, the Cape’s population soared and the flow of nutrients from septic systems into Cape Cod’s estuaries and fresh water bodies of water increased, dramatically decreasing water quality.

Cost estimates to address the Cape’s water pollution at present range from $4 billion to $8 billion, according to Andrew Gottlieb, executive director of the water protection collaborative.

In January, the state DEP directed the Commission to “prepare an update of the 1978 208 plan to address the critical degradation of Cape Cod’s water resources.”

Niedzwiecki previously has said that the plan will not consist of a single solution to address water pollution on the Cape, but instead will put forward a variety of options, at a variety of costs, that can be used to deal with pollution in individual watersheds across the Cape.

Under the work plan, the commission plans to reach out and engage Cape residents, municipal officials and businesses in discussions about what courses of action to pursue in the various watersheds, an approach that will include workshops.

The work plan will tap information previously gathered about the watersheds and about ways to reduce pollution in those watersheds, and fill in information gaps as necessary.

The plan envisions towns that share a given watershed working together on a plan to improve that watershed.

Gottlieb said the state’s notice to proceed on the contract that supports the work plan “gives us the resources that we need” to engage in outreach on a watershed-by-watershed basis.

He called the state’s decision to approve funding for the work plan “a huge deal.”

Wastewater pollution, Gottlieb said, “is the biggest public policy issue facing the Cape. It’s not like we can afford to do nothing.”

While the potential costs of reining in wastewater pollution on the Cape are daunting, Gottlieb said public officials plan to press for 50-percent funding from state and federal sources, given the importance of the Cape to the Massachusetts economy.

According to the work plan, the updated 208 plan will recommend a range of solutions for each watershed; recommend policies, management approaches, regulatory changes and implementation priorities for the Cape; and evaluate Cape or regional funding mechanisms to cut costs and “ensure affordability.”

The work plan calls for the establishment of a seven-member 208 plan advisory board, consisting of representatives from the Upper, Mid, Lower and Outer Cape, as well as three ad hoc community members representing major interest groups.

Gottlieb said the water protection collaborative, established by the Barnstable County regional commissioners and consisting of representatives from the Cape’s 15 towns, also will participate in the work plan, conveying discussions at the county level to individual towns and bringing forward input from the communities.

Ballantine said the Cape Cod Commission will provide regular updates at the collaborative’s meetings on the progress of the work plan.

The work plan also calls for the re-forming of the collaborative’s Technical Advisory Committee to focus on technical aspects of the 208 Plan Update.

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